Modification of Blinking Statistics in Solid State Quantum Dot/Conjugated Organic Polymer Composite Nanostructures

ABSTRACTFluorescence intermittency, or “blinking” in quantum dot systems has been the subject of great interest since the first observation of this phenomenon nearly 10 years ago. The stability of quantum dot fluorescence emission is especially important in the context of photovoltaic, optoelectronic, and biological applications, where device performance, or the ability to track labeled particles, is affected adversely by fluorescence intermittency. Single-molecule spectroscopy combined with atomic force microscopy measurements reveal that CdSe quantum dots functionalized with oligo(phenylene vinylene), OPV, ligands exhibit modified optical properties such as suppression of blinking when compared to conventional TOPO covered or ZnS-capped CdSe quantum dots. The blinking suppression is shown to be highly sensitive to the degree of ligand coverage on the quantum dot surface and this effect is interpreted as resulting from charge transport from photoexcited OPV into vacant trap sites on the quantum dot surface. This direct surface derivatization of quantum dots with organic ligands also enables a “tunable” quantum dot surface that allows dispersion of quantum dots in a variety of polymer supported thin films without phase segregation. This facilitates straightforward inclusion of these new hybrid materials into solid state formats and suggests exciting new applications of composite quantum dot/organic systems in optoelectronic systems.